Church officials speak after priest arrest

Detectives: man agrees to meet minor for sex

ORLANDO, Fla. - A father, school teacher and Episcopalian priest was arrested Friday after Orange County detectives said he planned to meet a minor for sex.

The Orange County Sheriff's Office said Brian Gerald Shriner, 46, started talking to an undercover sheriff's detective posing as a minor over the internet on May 17. Through emails, the two agreed to meet to have sex. On Friday at 9:30 a.m., Shriner traveled to Orange County from the Winter Springs area to meet the minor, the sheriff's office said.

Pastor Sheryl Shaw of the New Covenant Anglican Church, was emotional, yet addressing alarming allegations of wrong doing by a fellow priest.

"We monitor everything, adults are never allowed with children," Shaw said. "We are cooperating with authorities in every way that we should."

46-year-old Brian Shriner, is a priest at the church and today was the first Sunday service he will not be at after he was arrested in Orange County accused of trying to meet a minor for sex.

Investigators said back in May, Shriner started talking to who he thought was a child on the internet, but it was really an undercover detective.

Shriner and the detective talked for a month and agreed to meet up for sex Saturday morning.

Shriner is married and a father of two children.

"I spent time with his wife and kids yesterday, and how are they doing.They are all devastated," Shaw said.Shriner was also a teacher at the Geneva School on Semoran Boulevard in Orlando.

He was fired after his arrest.

The church staff here says they are fully cooperating with law enforcement.,Parishioners said they are using this Sunday to celebrate Father's Day and to pray for Shriner's family.

Shriner is a teacher at the Geneva School in Orlando, where school officials terminated him on Saturday.

Anyone who has been victimized by Shriner is asked to call the Orange County Sheriff's Office or CRIMELINE.

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